


Protect, Crocea Mors!

by DekuMomiya



Category: RWBY
Genre: AU, Crocea Mors doesn't like Jaune, Gen, Hunters and their weapons work differently in this AU, Ruby is the eldest sister
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:29:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29706852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DekuMomiya/pseuds/DekuMomiya
Summary: Huntsmen. Aura. Relics. Grimm. After saving a little girl from a demonic wolf, Jaune Arc has been thrusted to this new hidden world. Will he survive?
Relationships: Jaune Arc & Bartholomew Oobleck, Jaune Arc & Crocea Mors (Relic Weapon)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

A blonde haired blue eyed boy walked through an empty hallway as he looked around curiously. The walls were made of some sort of black stone. Any time he looked out of the window he could see a sky of black dotted with reddish clouds.

As he arrived at a fork on the hallway he turned to look at a grand black door with white chains holding it closed.

As he walked towards the door a chilling female voice pierced through his mind **_“Come, my little King. Soon you’ll rule above all crea- BEEP BEEP BEEP!”_**

-OOOOO-

Tired eyes snapped open as Jaune grabbed his scroll to turn off his alarm. _‘5 AM of another beautiful day’._ As he got up he pulled off his onesie, throwing it on a bed which was always unmade. He put on his blue exercise clothes and grabbed the old sword his grandfather gave him, quickly walking out of his room.

As he walked through his apartment he looked at the sword on his hands. The old longsword held a lot of memories from his grandfather training him and telling him stories of old knights. He smiled at those memories. It had been around four years since his grandpapa passed on and he still held onto this memento.

He arrived to a large room which served as his exercise room and began stretching with his sword. He liked to do this every morning, it kept him fit enough. As he finished his stretches he started exercising with his sword, using it as a weight. Finishing with those exercises he began practicing sword strikes.

His older sisters always wondered why he liked to train with his sword when Remnant was at peace. The Faunus Right Protests had been resolved peacefully more than 30 years ago and the Faunus were treated well. Jaune always had to explain to them that he liked feeling like he was a knight. Like he was strong, after all, their family descended from the great Safran Arc, the most loyal knight of King Ozymandias.

His father… didn’t really approve. He never liked violence and actively tried to interrupt his grandfather’s visits. He even tried to take away his sword once he found out Jaune had it. That day… turned ugly. That day he moved out with his sister Saphron to Argus, where the two lived until Saphron got married to Terra and Jaune decided to move to Vale City to give them some space. He also had gotten a sponsor on the form of Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck to go to Beacon High.

Turns out, his grandfather was the mentor of the good doctor and he had been looking for Jaune for a good while. He finally found him when he was invited to Saphron’s wedding and gave Jaune the opportunity to move to Vale under his sponsorship. It was pretty simple, Doctor Oobleck was the history professor at Beacon and had an apartment he wasn’t using. Jaune took the opportunity in a heartbeat and, after explaining the situation to Saphron, he was away with the good doctor on a plane to Vale.

He liked living alone. It gave him the time he needed to do his homework, study, train… do his homework. By now he was used to it since he didn’t really have any friends. Turns out introducing yourself with ‘I’m Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls of the tongue. Ladies love it’ is not the best way to get friends. Besides, social awkwardness will not take you to many places.

As he remembered his lack of friends Jaune stopped reminiscing on his life. He finished his sword strikes and walked out of the training room. He had lost the mood for his training. Leaving the sword on top of his bed, Jaune grabbed his uniform and walked to the bathroom to take a shower.

Dressed and with his backpack on his back, Jaune Arc left his apartment to get to school.

-OOOOO-

“And that’s how the Mistrali-Atlesian war ended with Argus being erected as a symbol of unity between both nations.” Doctor Oobleck finished his lecture as the bell rang. “Remember students, the show and tell for medieval artifacts is next week. Please don’t forget to bring at least one artifact per pair.”

Jaune sighed as he put his stuff on his bag. A class with 25 students usually ended with 11 pairs and 1 trio or 12 pairs and 1 sole student… which was usually Jaune’s role. As he got up he walked to the front to talk with his benefactor.

“Um, Doctor Oobleck?” Jaune asked, gaining his attention.

“Ah Jaune, I’m guessing you’ll be bringing your grandfather’s memento right?” He replied on his usual fast-paced way. Many of his classmates found that annoying but Jaune got used to it after his first year at Beacon. “In that case bring it here today so we can notify the school about it.”

“Alright, thanks Doctor Oobleck.” Jaune smiled at him and quickly left the classroom to go home.

As he rounded the corner he rammed straight into one Cardin Winchester.

“Well, hello there Jauney boy.” The tall boy smirked at him, causing Jaune to shiver. Cardin Winchester had been his bully for his first year at Beacon until he suddenly stopped for some reason. He still liked to make Jaune feel uncomfortable.

“Hi Cardin, sorry, I wasn’t looking while I walked.” Jaune decided to take the path of less resistance and just apologize.

“Make sure it doesn’t happen again Arc.” And with that the boy left, letting Jaune walk towards the exit.

-OOOOO-

Changed into his t-shirt, hoodie, jeans and sneakers combo, Jaune Arc walked the streets with his sword wrapped in tinfoil. Why tinfoil? Well, because it’s the first thing Jaune saw when he got to his apartment.

As he walked he could see how people gave him odd looks but he kept pressing on. A black haired young girl rushed past him but he only looked at her for a few seconds. Did she have blonde ends? He shrugged and kept walking when suddenly, he felt a screams coming from the street. He turned his eyes and saw some sort of black portal opening up.

Stepping out of it came an enormous black wolf. It was the size of a van and had red eyes hidden behind a bone white mask. All Jaune’s instincts screamed at him to run away. He was going to until he saw the wolf lock onto something. Following its gaze his eyes widened as he saw the young girl from before standing there, looking at it. His body moved before his mind registered the sight.

As the wolf charged he made his way through the people running away.

“Move out!” He yelled as he tackled the girl out of the way of the wolf’s jaws. He saw her shocked expression as the wolf bit into him and trashed him around. As this happened Jaune held onto his sword and was thrown towards a store, breaking the windows as he crashed into it, skidding through the floor and leaving a trail of blood. Through all this Jaune still held onto his grandfather’s memento.

 _‘Well, I guess there’s worse ways to go out.’_ He could feel blood pouring out of the new holes on his body. He coughed blood. _‘Here lies Jaune Arc, a 16 year old boy who managed to save a little girl from a demonic wolf.’_ He closed his eyes as darkness took over, resigning himself to his fate

 _“Do you want to die Jaune Arc?”_ Jaune heard a voice in his head and opened his eyes to find himself in some sort of training room surrounded by those black stone walls. Looking up he saw the black sky with red clouds from his dream. “I asked if you wanted to die, Jaune Arc.”

Jaune’s eyes snapped towards the source of the voice. Standing in the middle of the room was some sort of white armored knight. He was pretty tall, taller than Jaune at least.

“Of course not.” Jaune replied, weirded out by how calm he felt. “But what can I do?”

“You can fight back.” The white knight replied “I’ve been watching you for four years, and I know you’d never give up without putting up a fight. Not even when Cardin Winchester and his lackeys would fight you 4 on 1. Not even when you only had 1 hour left to write a paper. Not even when everyone made fun of you. You just didn’t give up and gave it your best. Now tell me Jaune. What do you want to do?”

“I want to live!” Jaune shouted as images of him tackling the girl away came to him. Even when he knew he wouldn’t come out alive he still protected her. “I… I want to protect!”

-OOOOO-

A blonde haired girl with lilac eyes ran towards the Grimm sighting. She had her long hair on a ponytail, black shorts which reached to her knees, black and yellow sneakers with an aviator jacket over a purple t-shirt. What made her stand out were two yellow and black gauntlets which covered from her fists halfway to her elbow.

 _‘Fuck Robin, you better be okay.’_ Her mind was racing as she looked for her little sister. The 12 year old twerp had run ahead of her as she felt the Grimm about to appear. Up ahead she saw the familiar bed of black and blonde hair and Yang hurried. “Robin!”

Her little sister turned and ran towards her. “Yang! Quick, someone is about to die.”

“Wha-“ But before she could say anything she felt a strong Aura coming from a wrecked store as the Warg approached it. This unsettled her as she was shit at sensing Aura, which meant this person had a shit ton of it.

“Protect, Crocea Mors!” She heard a male voice shout as a fountain of white light came out of the store. When her eyes adjusted to the light she saw a blonde haired guy walking out. His outfit was pretty much unusable, but what caught her eyes was his sword. From what she could see it was a white longsword with a golden hilt.

Before she could move in to assist, the blonde guy charged at the Warg as the Grimm charged at him. Her eyes widened as Blondie sidestepped the Warg and cut its head off with one swing.

“Yeah.” She heard the guy cough. “That’s what you get for attacking the innocent.” And he dropped like a sack of potatoes. Yang looked at Robin and she nodded. They walked towards him as Yang saw the Grimm dissipate into black miasma which split in two groups, with one entering Blondie’s Relic and the other one entering his body.

When she got close she took a look at his Relic. It had sealed itself back and looked like an old longsword. “A warrior type huh?” She turned to Robin as she looked over the Relic.

_‘Ember, Celica, rest up, there’s no more enemies.’_

_“Aight boss”_ She heard her Relic spirits talk in unison as her gauntlets disappeared in a yellow light, leaving only two yellow boxing gloves with black flames stitched on them.

“We should take him to big sis.” Robin stated as she looked up to Yang. “He saved my life from the Warg earlier.

So he saved her little sister’s life? Huh, then of course they would take him home. “Yeah, Ruby will know what to do.”

-OOOOO-

Amber eyes looked as the blonde haired girl picked up the newly awakened Huntsman and walked off, with the little black haired girl holding his sword and following them. Blake Belladona sighed and sealed Gambol Shroud, turning it back into a black ribbon and tying it up around her ears.

 _‘Dad will want to know this.’_ Blake got up from her place on the roof and jumped off to another building to get home quicker.

 _“Do you think the Schnee are going to try and get him?”_ Gambol Shroud asked from inside her mind.

_‘Yeah, we’ll have to offer him protection and inform him.’_

_ “Good… wait a minute. Isn’t he the ‘Rolls off the tongue guy’?” _

_‘So he is also at Beacon… he must be a second year now. I’ll keep an eye on him.’_

-OOOOO-

Pale blue eyes watched the footage of the blonde kid’s fight. Willow Schnee smirked. “So the grandson of Citron Arc has awakened his abilities. Interesting.” She looked out the window to the red sky of an Atlesian sunset. “I’m sure little Weissy will be able to get him into the Schnee Aura Corps. Who knows? Maybe they’ll end up as friends.” With her plans made Willow Schnee picked up her cup of tea and took a sip. Klein was the best at his job.

-OOOOO-

Brown eyes looked out the window of the highest office of Beacon. Ozpin closed his eyes as he sighed. “So it has finally started.” He took a sip of his coffee and went to his desk. He had work to do.


	2. Chapter 2

Blue eyes fluttered open to see a sky of black and red. Jaune groaned as he got up and looked around him. He was in one of the dark hallways he saw in his dream. _‘What the hell happened?’_ Shaking his head he started walking.

It didn’t take him too long to find himself in front of the dark door surrounded by chains. Staring at them they felt he heard a feminine voice whisper around him.

 ** _“Come my Little King… there’s no time… break these chains so we can talk.”_** He felt strangely allured by that voice. He reached out to touch the chains when an armored hand settled on his shoulder.

“Jaune Arc.” The voice from the white knight made him turn around to face him. He still had that white armor, looking at him through his helmet. Jaune looked directly into his dead blue eyes and felt oddly discomforted. “Now that you have learned my name and awakened your Aura you are considered a Huntsman.”

“I understand.” He didn’t really understand much… but Huntsmen used that Aura thing to fight those black beasts… to protect… and that’s all he needed to know.

“Good. Also, don’t do anything to those chains… if anything stay away from this door.” Crocea Mors’ strict voice shook him a little.

“Why? What’s behind the door? Does it have to do with that woman’s voice?” Jaune asked, wincing a bit as he saw Crocea Mors’ eyes widen, a flicker of anger passing through them. _‘I guess it’s a touchy subject.’_

“Don’t test my patience Jaune Arc. Remember, we only work together, we are not friends and you do not get to ask questions.” Crocea Mors brought his hand to the side, making a white sword with a golden guard and pommel appear in it. Crocea Mors gripped its blue handle and Jaune could barely see him bringing his sword down on him.

-OOOOO-

She sighed as she felt her Little King disappear from his Inner World. Bound by these chains she couldn’t do much, and even if she somehow managed to break free, the chains on the door were even stronger than the ones binding her.

 **“You do know it will only be a matter of time until you don’t have enough power to stop him. I suggest you stand down before he makes you disappear Sword.”** She projected her voice. When she sensed him turning his attention towards her she smirked.

“I suggest you shut up Witch. As long as I stand alive I’ll be your jailor… and that _boy_ will not leave enough to free you. I’ll make sure of it.” Crocea Mors proudly claimed, making her suppress a snort. She had known her Little King all of his life, and she knew just how stubborn he could be. It was only a matter of time until she was free again. She had infinite amounts of it.

-OOOOO-

Jaune jolted awake, with his heartbeat thumping against his ears. His eyes widened and he started checking himself for injuries.

“I guess your Relic decided to kick you out of your Inner World.” He heard a feminine voice and he turned to see a dark-haired girl with silver eyes. Upon closer inspection he could see the end of her hair had a red tint. She was dressed on the female Beacon uniform with a red cape with a hood hanging off her shoulders. On the ground behind her was a worn out bow without a string.

“Uh… hi?” Jaune waved at her, unsure of how to respond. “Wait, relic? You mean Crocea Mors?”

“If that’s the name it gave you, then yes.” The girl nodded. “I am Ruby Rose, the eldest daughter of the Xiao Long Household.” She looked to a door to the side. “Yang, Robin, come introduce yourselves.” When she said that the door opened, revealing a girl with bright red eyes looking at him. She had black hair reaching to her middle back, with blonde tips. Behind her a tall blond girl with lilac eyes. She looked at him with some sort of… cautious optimism?

As both girls entered Jaune had a chance to look at their outfit. The little girl was dressed with a dark red jacket over a white t-shirt. She had black cargo pants and black and red sneakers. Her hair just flowed unimpeded on her back. The blonde’s hair was also pretty long, but tied on a ponytail. It looked… fluffy. She had an aviator jacket over a purple t-shirt. She had black shorts that reached to her knees and white and black sneakers. On her hands she carried Crocea Mors. As they sat Jaune looked at himself. He didn’t look too damaged. When he moved his shoulders a bit he realized he was only wearing his hoodie on his upper body. He looked at it closer and saw the zone on the stomach had been patched together.

“Um… thanks for fixing my hoodie. My name is Jaune Arc… youngest member of the Arc household I guess?” Jaune saw fit to introduce himself.

The blonde kept looking at him carefully. “I am Yang Xiao Long, middle daughter of the Xiao Long Household.” She bowed her head slightly.

The little girl put her hand up. “I’m Robin Branwen, youngest daughter of the Xiao Long Household.” She smiled at him. “Nice to meet a new Huntsman.”

“About that… I think Crocea Mors said I’m a Huntsman because I have Aura… what’s going on?” Jaune asked, confused at the rapid developments happening around him.

“I can answer that.” Ruby put up her hand and it started glowing red. “Aura is the manifestation of our souls. It lets us defend ourselves against the creatures of the Grimm. A Huntsman is an Aura user with a Relic they use to fight. A Relic is a complicated thing, but I can summarize them by saying they are objects Huntsmen have had for a long time, filled with memories an Aura. They usually have two released forms, one basic that most Huntsmen can access and one you have to pump a lot of Aura into before using.” Ruby sighs. “It’s a lot of information so if you feel you need to ask something do it.”

“Yeah… uh… that black wolf was a Grimm right?” Jaune asked.

“Yes, from what Robin and Yang said it was a Fenrir.” Ruby answered. “A Fenrir is a pretty basic Grimm, closely related to the Beowolf, a more humanoid wolf Grimm.”

“I see… thanks for the answers I guess… can I go home now?” Jaune asked.

“In a bit, I’ve already called Doctor Oobleck to come pick you up. Why don’t you accompany us for dinner?” Ruby asked with a smile Jaune noticed didn’t quite reach her eyes.

“Um… thanks for taking care of me.” Jaune replied as he got up from his spot on the ground.

-OOOOO-

Sitting at a table made for four people was a novel experience for Jaune Arc. Sitting in the middle of three people made him feel tiny. Yang’s guarded looks, Robin’s hopeful eyes and Ruby’s smile made him feel really tiny. The food was good though! A nice warm plate of sweet chicken curry on rice.

“This is really good.” Jaune decided to talk after what felt like ages of silence.

“Thank you, I made it myself.” Ruby replied before shoving a spoonful of food on her mouth.

“So what are you gonna do now that you are a Huntsman Jaune?” Robin asked excited.

“I’ll try to protect as much people as I can. I mean, Aura lets you be like a superhero right?” Jaune smiled, trying to uplift the mood. It only seemed to sour it a bit as Ruby’s eyes took a sharp look.

“Well yeah, you also get your own superpower.” Robin replied smiling.

“Superpower?” Jaune looked at Ruby. “I get a superpower?”

Jaune didn’t like how Ruby sighed. “I was going to wait a little but yes, the superpower is called Semblance. Every Huntsman gets one eventually.”

“Mine lets me get stronger the more damage I take.” Yang finally said while looking at him in the eyes with… hope? “I call it Fiery Fury.”

“That seems… neat. Why are you guys telling me so much?” Jaune finally asked.

“Two reasons.” Ruby smiled at him with closed eyes. “The first one is because you saved Robin from the Fenrir. And the second one is because we want you to join us in killing Grimm.”

“Oh! No worries about saving your sister, anyone would have done that.” Jaune smiled at her. “And don’t worry, I’ll kill any Grimm I see to protect people.”

“You’ll understand soon.” Ruby smiled as the horn of a car could be heard. “It seems Doctor Oobleck has finally arrived to take you home. Yang, can you take Jaune to the door?”

“Sure sis.” Yang got up as Jaune did and walked down a hallway.

“Thanks for the food, it was really good, bye.” Jaune waved at them and rushed down the hallway, where Yang was standing with the door open. With a nod as goodbye Jaune got out of the house and into Oobleck’s green car.

“Ah, hello Jaune.” Oobleck smiled at him. “It seems you have become a Huntsman like your grandfather.”

“Grandpapa was a Huntsman? You are a Huntsman?” Jaune asked in awe.

“Yes. Old man Safran was one of the best Huntsmen I’ve ever known. He was the one to show me the ropes when I became one.” Oobleck smiled at the memory. “How much did little Ruby tell you?”

Jaune proceeded to tell him what they explained. “And they said something about a Semblance being my own superpower.”

“I see.” Oobleck nodded while they waited at an intersection. “It seems she neglected to mention that if you kill a Grimm you and your Relics get stronger.”

“Hold on. Relics? As in plural?” Jaune looked at him.

“A Huntsman can have more than one Relic if they have enough Aura.” Oobleck replied and Jaune nodded, choosing to stay quiet and enjoy the ride home.

-OOOOO-

Jaune yawned as he sat at his desk with a notebook in front of him. Classes were almost starting and he felt pretty tired.

After arriving home he decided to just take a shower and go pass out on his bed. The moment he had gotten back to his room he found an open guitar case with Crocea Mors inside. There was a note stuck to the case which read _“You will join the Music Club from now on. This case will allow you to disguise Crocea Mors so you don’t get in trouble until we can get you properly registered -Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck.”_ He had that guitar case closed with a padlock at the back of the classroom.

As the bell rang and his classmates went back to their seats Doctor Oobleck entered. As the man in charge of their class he always held orientation in the morning.

“Class, today we have a new student joining us.” He looked to the door. “Please, don’t be shy.”

Jaune’s jaw fell as he saw one of the most gorgeous girls ever enter the classroom. She had long white hair, arranged on a side ponytail with a tiara. He beautiful pale blue eyes scanned the classroom until they landed… on _him_ … and narrowed a bit. She had a tiny frame and was wearing the Beacon girl uniform.

Murmurs erupted around them as the girl did a little curtsy. “Good morning, my name is Weiss Schnee. I hope we can get along on this center for learning.” And with that she walked down the aisle, arriving at the desk next to his and looking at him. “And you will be mine.” She said in a barely hearable whisper, which made Jaune shudder, as she sat down.

 _‘What’s going on?’_ He asked himself as he smiled in confusion.


	3. Chapter 3

The lunch bell rang as Jaune was putting his stuff in his bag. A hand slamming on his desk brought his attention to one Weiss Schnee, who was looking at him in the eyes, furiously tapping her foot on the floor.

“Uh… can I help you?” Jaune asked carefully.

“Why yes Jaune Arc.” She smiled at him. “You can join my Schnee Aura Corps.”

“The what?” Jaune asked with wide eyes. _‘Can we even talk about Aura amongst regular people?’_

“He won’t.” A voice behind him answered. He turned around and saw Ruby as murmurs erupted around them. He noticed she was taller than Weiss. She also had her cape on her shoulders. “He will come to a club meeting right now, so he will be busy.”

“What kind of club?” Weiss narrowed her eyes as Jaune looked around. He could see the students still on the classroom giving him looks of pity.

“The Music Club.” Ruby sent her a smile which didn’t reach her eyes.

“The Music Club? Poor guy.” He heard someone whisper behind him.

“I wonder what he did to piss off the Huntress gang.” He heard a girl whisper back. _‘What are they talking about?’_ He hadn’t heard anything about the Music Club… then again, he didn’t really have friends so what would he know.

“A music club huh?” Weiss glared at her. “Then I hope you won’t mind me joining, considering my reputation.”

“Don’t bother princess.” Ruby stood straighter, looking down on Weiss. “We are an amateur bunch, no need to get on with professionals.”

“Professionals?” Jaune blurted out, managing to get both girls to glare at him. _‘Roll with it._ ’ “Do you sing Weiss?”

The girl in question gave him a startled and odd look. “You don’t know me?”

“Sorry, should I?” Jaune asked, confused. Weiss’ eyes softened and she sighed.

“I’ll speak to the Headmaster to gain access to this ‘music club’.” Weiss picked up her bag and walked up to the door. Once she reached it she turned her head back to look at him. “We’ll talk later… Jaune.”

 _‘Well that was weird._ ’ A hum from Ruby’s direction grabbed his attention. “Interesting.” The girl looked up at him. “Grab your guitar case and follow me.” She started walking, making him scramble to get his bag and his guitar case.

-OOOOO-

The walk to the Music Club was an… interesting one. Walking behind Ruby, he could hear murmurs and see looks of pity. The things they said worried him. Whispers of the ‘Huntress gang’ and ‘Death by purse’. While paying attention to them he bumped into a black haired cat Faunus with amber eyes. After apologizing he kept walking.

When they reached the clubroom Ruby simply entered before him. As he followed her he saw the curtains closed, with the only light inside being that of the artificial lights. Around the wall were a bunch of musical instruments propped in stands. An actual fridge stood at a corner of the room. Two girls were sitting at a table in the middle of the room.

One of them was a rabbit Faunus. She had long brown hair with two large ears on her head. As he entered she turned around and Jaune saw her face. She had light skin and brown eyes. She gave him a smile as he waved at her.

The other one had short brown hair with an orange dyed lock of hair falling by the side of her face. She was wearing black sunglasses with a black beret. Once she saw him she grinned. Both girls were wearing the Beacon High female uniform.

“Since The Boss didn’t bring you here beaten up I guess you are the new guy she mentioned.” The one with sunglasses pulled them down a bit, letting Jaune see her dark eyes. “Not bad kid, the hair could use some work. I’m Coco Adel, third year.”

“Jaune Arc, second year.” Jaune introduced himself and looked at the longhaired girl.

“Hellao theah, Oy'm Vaelveh' Scahluytina.” She replied. Jaune just looked at her confused. Was she from West Vale?

“I’m sorry. What?” Jaune tried to sound the less rude possible.

“Ahh yah syyin yah cahn't unduhstahnd me? Thaht's nawt very noice.” She replied I gibberish.

“Velvet.” They both turned to Ruby as she closed the door. “Play nice.”

“Sure Ruby.” She replied, nearly causing Jaune to get whiplash from how fast he turned to her. As he looked at her in the eyes she burst out into laughter.

“What is going on?” Jaune turned to Ruby, clearly confused.

“She is Velvet Scarlatina, a third year who comes from West Vale, a few kilometers from the border with Vacuo. She likes to mess with some heads with her accent.” Ruby replied as she sat at the head of the table. “Take a seat Jaune. Velvet, get Jaune some fruit.” As Jaune sat down next to Coco. Velvet got up and went to the fridge. She got him a banana, which Jaune ate as he looked at Ruby.

“So… what was that about the Schnee Aura Corps?” Jaune asked once he finished his banana. “Are we even allowed to talk about Aura in public?”

“We are not supposed to. You can if you want to, but people will treat you as a lunatic until you can prove it. In which case… well, you are responsible for those you bring into this world.” Ruby replied. “And the Schnee Aura Corps are just one of the many factions of Huntsmen.”

“Can you tell me about the different factions?” Jaune asked.

“I guess I have to.” Ruby nodded. “There’s the Beacon affiliated Xiao Long Household, which you know by now. We focus on dealing quickly with the Grimm we can find with extreme force. My sisters, Velvet, Coco, my uncle and I are members of it.”

“So you are affiliated with Beacon? Are the teachers Huntsmen?” Jaune put his hand on his pocket, touching a piece of paper.

“Yes, most of them. The Headmaster is one of the strongest Huntsmen ever.” Ruby replied as Jaune pulled out the piece of paper.

“’ _The White Fang is watching you.’_ Is the White Fang another faction?” Jaune asked.

“Yes.” Velvet replied with a frown. “They are a Faunus-led group focused on protecting the Faunus-heavy areas of Vale. They are not against working with humans or Beacon… but I can’t say they wouldn’t let a human die in place of a Faunus.”

“They also like to steal kills from the Schnee.” Coco informed him. “If they see someone from the SAC they’ll wait in the shadows and steal the kill at the last second since for every Grimm you kill you and your Relics get stronger.

“They don’t sound very heroic.” Jaune frowned. Why would someone with power not use it to protect people?

“That’s because they aren’t.” A new voice joined from the door as Weiss entered the room. She closed the door and sat down in front of him, next to Velvet.

“Hey princess wha-“ Coco stopped herself as Weiss put a form on the table.

“The Headmaster allowed me to be part of this club.” Weiss smirked at her before frowning. “The White Fang aren’t heroic. They will try to hinder other factions if they can.”

Ruby nodded. “For now they are affiliated with Beacon, though I think that’s mostly so they can escape repercussions from the SAC.”

“So what’s the deal with the Schnee Aura Corps?” Jaune asked Weiss.

“The SAC are a faction by the Schnee Mining Company. We focus on protecting people inside our influence, pay for damages caused by the Grimm and fight off Rogue Huntsmen.” Weiss replied. “We are affiliated with Beacon and people in our faction gain top of the line equipment, alongside any Relics without Huntsmen if you can make it work with you.”

“The White Fang don’t like the SMC because of their business practices.” Velvet pointed out. “They say the Faunus that work for them are pretty much slaves but compared to other jobs, one can get a lot of money working for them. Since they don’t like the SMC they feel disdain for the SAC, though they wouldn’t attack them directly, they are not that stupid.”

Weiss looked at Velvet. “Nice to know a Faunus with more sense than to join them.”

“I’d rather just protect people without looking at their race you know?” Velvet shrugged and looked at Jaune. “You should look out for Rogue Huntsmen though, like the Red Axe Gang.”

“The Red Axe Gang?” Jaune looked at Ruby.

“They are a group of Rogue Huntsmen who focus on stealing kills from other Huntsmen and forcing them into their ranks… or killing them.” Ruby snarled. “They are scum. If they saw you weakened against a Grimm they wouldn’t hesitate to take you out first and steal your power. Not even the White Fang would do something like that.”

“Steal your power?” Jaune asked with wide eyes.

“As a Huntsman gets stronger by killing Grimm, if a Huntsman kills you they would absorb all of your power.” Weiss replied with clear disgust. “Those of the Red Axe Gang also like to involve civilians in their fights, using them as meat shields and making the Grimm stronger to kill them later.”

“So the Grimm get stronger the more people they kill?” Jaune was horrified. _‘If I didn’t already have a motive to want to protect people I have it now.’_

“They do.” Ruby’s voice was cold. “Those monsters get stronger the more they kill. And they focus on people instead of animals, barreling to anything to get to their prey.”

As Jaune was about to answer the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

“We’ll talk later Jaune.” Ruby replied. “Go along, you don’t want to miss classes.

Jaune got up and grabbed his bag and guitar case. “Thanks for the information Ruby.” He replied before rushing out the door.

As he ran through the hallway he heard Weiss yell at him. “Wait for me you lunkhead!”

Jaune slowed down to let Weiss run beside him, hoping they weren’t late.

-OOOOO-

They were late.

As Jaune took notes in Math class he reflected on the information he got.

_‘Of the factions they told me the Xiao Long Household and the Schnee Aura Corps sound the most noble… but should I join them? Should I just be affiliated with Beacon? I shouldn’t be hasty with this stuff…’_

As he pondered this topic the final bell rang. He started putting his stuff in his bag when he saw Doctor Oobleck entering the room.

“Jaune Arc, please go to the Headmaster’s office.” He announced before walking out of the classroom.

Jaune sighed and grabbed his stuff to go see the Headmaster.


End file.
